"I've decided that I'm going to do battle for my philosophy. You ought to believe something in life, believe that thing so fervently that you will stand up with it till the end of your days. I can't make myself believe that God wants me to hate. I'm tired of violence. And I'm not going to let my oppressor dictate to me what method I must use. We have a power, power that can't be found in Molotov cocktails, but we do have a power. Power that cannot be found in bullets and guns, but we have a power. It is a power as old as the insights of Jesus of Nazareth and as modern as the techniques of Mahatma Gandhi."

Martin Luther King Jr, as quoted in The Devil Still Pirouettes Among Us by Fred Zackel.

McGill University Vote Mob, a photo by davehuehn on Flickr.

"We must involve ourselves in the world, but that means it's going to be messy. We live in a fallen world and can't live pure lives. As we live boldly in the world, we will automatically fall short."

James Reimer, 1942 - 2010

“Well I’ll tell you, one thing I would say about your film is that it would be really interesting for people to see is how beautiful things grow out of shit. Because, nobody ever believes that. Everyone thinks that Beethoven had his string quartets completely in his head – they somehow formed in his head – and all he had to do was write them down, and they would kind of be manifest to the world. But what I think is so interesting, and what would really be a lesson that everybody should learn, is that things come out of nothing. Things evolve out of nothing. You know, that the tiniest seed in the right situation turns into the most beautiful forest. And then the most promising seed in the wrong situation turns into nothing. And I think this would be important for people to understand, because it gives people confidence in their own lives that that’s how things work.

If you walk around with the idea that there are some people who are so gifted – they have these wonderful things in their head but you’re not one of them, you’re just a normal sort of person, you could never do anything like that – then you live a different kind of life. You could have another kind of like, where you say, well, I know that things come from nothing very much and start from unpromising beginnings. And I’m an unpromising beginning, and I could start something.”-Brian Eno, as quoted in Another Green World by Geeta Dayal (via, via)

Quote of the Month:

"Abominations such as Apartheid do not start with an entire population suddenly becoming inhumane. They start here. They start with generalizing unwanted characteristics across an entire segment of a population. They start with trying to solve a problem by asserting superior force over a population. They start with stripping people of rights and dignity – such as the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty – that you yourself enjoy. Not because it is right, but because you can. And because somehow, you think this is going to solve a problem."Read more at theCommunity.com

MCC is gearing up for a massive relief effort in Haïti and seeks to raise at least $1 million U.S. According to their press release:

"MCC workers in Haiti include nine people from Colombia, the Netherlands and the United States; seven Haitian program staff members; and additional support staff. All program staff located in Port-au-Prince, the capital, are accounted for. Although the communications infrastructure in Haïti has been disrupted, staff members were able to send a message via the U.S. embassy. All MCC staff members who have been in touch report seeing bodies in the streets, according to Daryl Yoder-Bontrager, MCC Latin America and the Caribbean director. MCC is working to contact staff outside Port-au-Prince.

MCC is planning its response which will include short-term relief plus recovery efforts over the medium and long term. "We're looking carefully at how we can build peace, avoid violence and do good community development at the same time," said Yoder-Bontrager.

MCC regional disaster management coordinators Kathy and Virgil Troyer, based in Honduras, will travel to Haïti as soon as possible to help with the planning and implementation of MCC's response. The Troyers are from Orrville, Ohio."

Here's an interview MCC's Linda Espenshade did with the Troyers yesterday:

You can donate to MCC online.

Read more about the teenager-run High School Bike Bus in Orlando.

A donation to WindowFarms.org! I can't wait to try this out myself, and I want as many people as possible to have the chance to benefit from this ingeniousness.

I'm donating via kickstarter.com, and you can track the progress of the project funding below:

Watch this video to learn more about Window Farms!

"Something hit me very hard once, thinking about what one little man could do. Think of the Queen Mary — the whole ship goes by and then comes the rudder. And there's a tiny thing at the edge of the rudder called a trim tab. It's a miniature rudder. Just moving the little trim tab builds a low pressure that pulls the rudder around. Takes almost no effort at all. So I said that the little individual can be a trim tab. Society thinks it's going right by you, that it's left you altogether. But if you're doing dynamic things mentally, the fact is that you can just put your foot out like that and the whole big ship of state is going to go. So I said, call me Trim Tab."

— R. Buckminster Fuller, Playboy, Feb 1972

60 Seconds in the Life of Thanksgiving from Ironic Sans on Vimeo. Give it time.

"I don't know about you, but I can't wait to get my hands on some fucking gourds and arrange them in a horn-shaped basket on my dining room table. That shit is going to look so seasonal."

- Colin Nissan, in McSweeney's

I'm thinking about leaving the country.

Anyone know about any one to three month programs?

I should probably note I can't speak Spanish, French, German... or really anything other than English and minimal Chinese.

.... I'm sort of looking at Africa or China. But would also consider other locations too... just outside of the continental US.

http://theinformantmovie.warnerbros.com/

Click on the synopsis and struggle to read white text on a yellow and white gradient. Its like they want you to hate them.

I no longer live in Evanston.

I'm now on the west side of Lakeview, in Chicago. (Yeah, I know, not a huge move...)

If you'd like an updated address, just email me: erini [at] erinichristine [dot] com

Who thinks this might be the best idea ever?

Thought so.

I'm bragging here:On sunday i did my 2nd real cyclo-cross race and placed #1, not only that but I lapped the girl who came in after me. so i won by like 2 miles. There was one girl who raced faster than me but she is a Cat 1 or 2 rider, and I registered for the Cat 3/4 event. Go me. Oh yeah, and i did it on a single-speed steel mtn. bike. here's the proof and here's a photo

Y'all coming to DC? Potluck & keg @ Lando's Tuesday evening. Whoo-la!

anyone want to move to Chicago this spring and be my roommate?

I've got a wii... and kittens... :)

I've been reading this book. And while it's not exactly the point of the book, I've been wondering whether the correspondence between words that we use in English to describe concepts for social structure and French words for those same concepts means that our understanding of social relations becomes inevitably tied to ideas of liberal individualism arising out of the French Revolution, versus how one might think if speaking German. For example, people or peuple rather than volk (but consider gens); community or communauté rather than gemeinschaft. Are there counter-examples?Obviously, this is all a subpart of the broader question of the extent to which cognition is dependent on language, but it would seem an important part of that question.Based on my experience this morning, seriously why do I not drink more Virgin Marys?

I find these to be quite awesome and have been posting about them everywhere.

So, while talking with someone from Mucca Pazza, I found out they're looking for places to crash when they head southwest soon...

I know one person in Phoenix, who can't host but is looking for others.. and well, I'm drawing a complete blank for Texas.

So I figured I'd ask as many people as I could and maybe something could work out.

They're really awesome people -- I definitely look forward to seeing them a couple times a month for reading band and the nonprofit meetings...

Anyway...

Here's the schedule:

THU 10/9 Need housing in/near Phoenix/Tempe

FRI 10/10 Stray Cat Bar and Grill Tempe, AZ Need housing in/near Phoenix/Tempe

SAT 10/11 Tour de Fat @ Tempe Town Lake + Rialto Theatre have housing

SUN 10/12 DAY OFF Need housing

MON 10/13 El Paso or Las Cruces or Albuquerque Need housing

TUE 10/14 The Foundation Lubbock, TX Need housing in/near Lubbock

WED 10/15 Need housing in/near Houston

THURS 10/16 Houston, TX @ Orange Show w/ Baby Dee *Need housing in/near Houston

FRI 10/17 Fort Worth, TX @ The Modern Art Museum w/ Baby Dee have housing

SAT 10/18 Tour de Fat Austin, TX @ Fiesta Gardens have housing

SUN 10/19 Austin, TX @ Maker Fair + Austin, TX @ Emo's have housing

So yeah, if you know someone who can help, that would be amazing. Just let me know at erini DOT christine (at) gmail

Thanks!

I need more internet crack.

anyone have any suggestions about where & how to waste/spend my time online?